


Breathe Out, So I Can Breathe You In

by ifeelcollege



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Absent Parents, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, F/F, High School Flashbacks, Pining, Set in the 90s, Skateboarder Nicole Haught, Slow Burn, Specifically 1999, Summer Vacation, Wayhaught - Freeform, Wynaught Brotp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:28:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28276872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifeelcollege/pseuds/ifeelcollege
Summary: Nicole Haught has always dreaded summer vacation, being stuck in her hometown every year, hoping that she might just once be able to escape somehow. Her best friend, Wynonna Earp, has a brilliant idea to start the summer before their senior year of college off with a bang: try to talk Gus and Curtis into letting Nicole come along on their yearly summer trip to their cabin! As the plan comes together, an unforeseen wild card enters the mix: Wynonna's younger sister, Waverly. Will repressed memories threaten to drive this summer into chaos or will this summer turn out to be WayHaught?
Relationships: Curtis McCready/Gus McCready, Jeremy Chetri/Robin Jett, Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught, Waverly Earp & Wynonna Earp, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Wynonna Earp & Nicole Haught, Wynonna Earp/Doc Holliday
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	Breathe Out, So I Can Breathe You In

**Author's Note:**

> Hello fellow Earpers!
> 
> Welcome to my first fic! This idea came to me a few years ago and has been sitting in my notes app ever since, so I finally decided to give it a go. Please don't expect regular updates with this fic, but I do plan to stick with this story until it is complete, so if you do enjoy it, please stick around with me. 
> 
> I want to give a HUGE shoutout to my beta and friend, Lacey (WalkingBumperSticker34). Without her help and encouragement, this fic would have never been posted and it would have endless mistakes and paragraphs that didn't make sense. You should definitely check out her work if you haven't already, because it's amazing!
> 
> Also, this fic will have a 90s soundtrack that I will post at the end of the final chapter. Each chapter will have a dedicated song that is mentioned in that chapter and the chapter titles will be lyrics from that song. The song that inspired the overall fic is Everlong by Foo Fighters, hence the title of the story.
> 
> Happy reading!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note the following trigger warning - This chapter does have mentions of absent parents, so please keep that in mind.

*Summer 1999

*Last day of junior year at Indiana University

Nicole searched frantically throughout her dorm room, rifling through the closet, pushing her chair aside to look under her desk, before she let out a frustrated huff, “Where is it? Shit, shit where is it?!”

“What are you trippin’ about now, Haughthead?” Wynonna raised an eyebrow as she calmly stacked her backpack on top of her duffle bag by the door.

Nicole dropped to her knees, a little too hard, and winced at the pain. She shoved her head under her bed and felt around aimlessly, “I can’t find my skateboard, Wynonna! We can’t leave without it.” Her voice strained as she stretched her right arm out as far as it could reach.

Wynonna leaned over and grabbed Nicole by the feet, dragging her out from under the bed, pulling one of Nicole’s black and red Nike Air Jordans off in the process.

Nicole whipped her head around and looked up at Wynonna, palms pressed to the floorboards to hold her chest up, “What are you doing?!”

Wynonna dropped her shoe to the ground and rolled her eyes, “Cool your jets man, I tripped on your stupid skateboard last night and almost dropped my whiskey, so I kicked it.” Wynonna nonchalantly shrugs, “I think it rolled under my bed or something.”

Nicole flipped onto her back and sat up, “You did WHAT to my board?!” she growled as she crawled on all fours to Wynonna’s side of the room. She reached under the bed and felt around for a few seconds before pulling out her skateboard, rolling onto her back and hugging it to her chest. 

She looked down at her board adoringly, taking a moment to admire the deck of her skateboard for what had to be the millionth time. It was pretty scraped up from her constant use, but the image was still unmistakable: a colorful picture of the galaxy depicted across the entire deck, every color so vibrant and exciting. Nicole had fallen in love with it the second she saw it and the sight alone had made her stomach drop. It reminded her there was so much more out there, beautiful things that were so much bigger than her small town. It meant everything at the time and it still means everything to her now. She ran her thumb over the chipped sticker of a winking Mickey Mouse that she had placed on the corner of her board. It looked so out of place amongst the bright stars and planets, but to her it fit perfectly. She was pulled out of her daze when Wynonna spoke up.

“You want me to leave you two alone?” Wynonna asked, wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

“Step off! I thought I lost her.” Nicole kicked at Wynonna’s leg but came up just short without her left shoe on.

“Missed me!” Wynonna danced over to the door before tripping on her own shoelace and falling into the door frame. Nicole chuckled under her breath while Wynonna shot her a look over her shoulder, “Anyway, did you just refer to your skateboard as ‘her’? You are something else, Haught.”

Wynonna bent over to grab her remaining clothes off the floor, completely disregarding her untied shoe, and shoved them into her duffle bag, “Ugh, my clothes fit in here just fine when we moved into this dorm.” She squeezed the bag against her boob, trying to zip it closed.

Nicole sat up and rolled her eyes, “That’s because Gus folded all of your clothes for you when you packed the first time.”

“Whatever! Folding is for losers.” Wynonna threw her hand to her head, forming an ‘L’ on her forehead, “Now stand up, we need to get going or I’ll miss my welcome home dinner that Gus and Curtis are making me tonight. I haven’t had a home cooked meal since Christmas break, and I will NOT miss it.”

Nicole rolled forward and jumped to her feet, her knees still a little sore from dropping down too hard on them earlier, “This is the first time I’m hearing about this dinner. How soon do we need to leave?”

“Shit, I just found out about it this morning and it may have slipped my mind to tell you…but Gus invited you too by the way. It starts at six.” Wynonna stated with a tight-lipped smile.

Nicole’s eyes perked up at the thought of a home cooked meal. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had anything that wasn’t microwaved in her dorm living area. It definitely wasn’t Christmas break like Wynonna, as Nicole had stayed on campus over break. If she had gone home, she would have just been in an empty house anyway.

She looked down at her wrist and checked her Casio G-shock watch before her eyes went wide and she threw her hands up at Wynonna, “Uh we need to go, like now!”

-

They quickly made their way down the dorm stairs and out to the parking lot; Wynonna only tripping on her untied shoelace twice in the process.

As soon as they got to Nicole’s car, Wynonna slid into the passenger seat and slammed her hands down on the dashboard, “Jump in, Red! We’ve got food to eat and there will most definitely be dessert waiting for us!”

Nicole rounded the back of her car to get everything loaded and huffed angrily at Wynonna for hitting her precious dashboard after being told countless times not to.

She had purchased her 1980 Black Z-28 right before leaving for college. It had a removable T-top and red and white stripes painted down the sides, just like she always wanted. The first day she pulled into the dorm parking lot, she had caught the attention of a few sophomores straight away and it certainly turned the heads of quite a few more girls over her time in college since then. The chick magnet factor was just one of the reasons why it was Nicole's most prized possession. 

Nicole struggled to grasp the correct key in her hand as she stood at the trunk of her car. She had her backpack slung over her right shoulder and was gripping her duffle bag in the opposite hand. Every time she thought she had the right key, her backpack slid off her shoulder and the ring of keys shifted in her fingers. _Goddamnit_ , Nicole thought as she used her whole body to swing her backpack back over her shoulder for a third time. She blew some red strands out of her face in frustration before she finally got a hold of the correct key and shimmied it into the keyhole. As soon as the trunk popped open, she threw her own bags in and bent over to grab Wynonna’s off the ground.

A few seconds passed and Nicole closed the trunk and walked around to the driver’s side of the car. She jumped in through the open window, because it was okay for only her to do that, and landed in the driver’s seat, one foot catching on Wynonna’s knee. Wynonna unhooked her foot and let it drop to the floor, “Smooth move, Red.” She hit the dashboard two more times, “Now let’s go! You took your sweet time loading the bags back there.”

Nicole whipped her head toward Wynonna and narrowed her eyes, “Stop hitting my dashboard! And maybe if you would have helped me load any of your own bags, we’d be on the road by now!”

Wynonna smirked at Nicole for a moment, but upon seeing her frustration continue, she threw her hands up in surrender, “Hey, it’s your car, man! I just didn’t want to overstep!”

Nicole gave Wynonna a knowing look, “Oh, that’s what you’re going to go with? Well for future reference, you have my permission to load and unload your own shit from my car.” Nicole turned the key and shifted into gear, peeling out of the parking lot, “Can you grab my CD holder out of the glove box?”

Just last summer, Nicole had installed her very own CD player after she saved up enough from her summer job at the diner back home. Spending her summers working at the diner wasn’t anything special, but it was all she knew. Plus the owner, Shorty, would always let her have a free strawberry milkshake during each of her shifts, so it was a pretty good gig.

Wynonna popped open the glove box and grabbed the black CD case, “Yeah, but I’m choosing the first CD. We’ve got an hour and a half drive in front of us, so we need to start it off right.”

Nicole rolled her eyes, “I don’t know, Wy, this is a pretty important decision…can I trust you to pick THE song that starts out our drive?”

Wynonna threw a hand to her chest and dropped her mouth open, “I am insulted, Big Red! You just wait, I always make the best decisions.”

Nicole threw her head back and laughed openly, “Yeah, the best decisions!” sarcasm dripping from every word.

A few minutes passed and Wynonna was still flipping through the CD holder. Nicole cleared her throat as she turned right to get on the freeway, “Did you pick a CD yet?” 

“I’m looking! Most of your music is from like 5 years ago. You really need to get some new CDs.”

Nicole’s face couldn’t hide the offense she took from Wynonna’s statement, “Those CDs are amazing! I do have a few new ones, but you can’t get rid of the classics!”

Wynonna slid a CD out of the case slowly, “Okay, I found one. It’s old as balls but I actually like it. You ready for this?” She looked over at Nicole with a growing grin and pushed the CD into the player, her hand covering the top of the CD just enough so that Nicole couldn’t see it. She clicked the skip button six times, until it finally landed on track seven.

‘Basket Case’ by Green Day pumped through the car speakers and Nicole nodded her head in approval, “Okay fine, Earp, you made one good decision.” 

Wynonna shot her a winning smile and used her hands to play the air guitar out the window while Nicole tapped her thumbs to the beat on the steering wheel.

-

The drive back to their hometown of Jasper consisted of Wynonna singing off key directly into Nicole’s ear the entire time. She had lost count of the number of times she palmed Wynonna’s face back to the passenger’s seat for just a moment of relief, but she still wouldn’t trade her annoying best friend for anything.

They gassed into town at 5:56 pm and both let out a sigh of relief at the same time, “We did it.” Nicole's stomach voiced its satisfaction with being at their destination too, “I can’t wait for a home cooked meal.”

Wynonna looked over at Nicole and her face settled a bit, “So…do your parents even know you’re back for the summer yet?”

Nicole shifted uncomfortably in her seat, eyes still on the road, “Maybe? I mean, they weren’t home any of the times I tried to call, so I left them a few messages on the answering machine.”

Wynonna put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze, “Man, I really wish you didn’t have to spend your summer stuck here with them. They’re never around anyway and you end up spending your summer alone, without me. Which I imagine must suck to not be able to see me everyday.”

Nicole rolled her eyes, "I actually thought I would be able to keep myself pretty busy, as I planned to get my part time job back at Shorty’s Diner to make some extra cash.”

“And so you feel less lonely without me…I get it, man.” Wynonna gave her a seemingly understanding smirk.

Nicole shoved Wynonna’s shoulder, “Shut up, I’ll be fine! You’ve gone to your summer cabin every year since I can remember and I’ve always been just fine.”

A few moments of silence pass, and Nicole looks over at Wynonna, because she’s never not talking. Her brows are furrowed and she looks as though the gears are literally turning in her mind. She slowly tilts her head toward Nicole, a grin climbing up her cheeks resembling something eerily similar to the Grinch.

Nicole looked back at her, slightly scared and a little cautious, “What is that look for?”

Wynonna remained silent for a moment, trying to make Nicole squirm a little longer, before she couldn’t hold her excitement anymore and she slammed her hands down on the dashboard again, “Wouldn’t it be tight if you could come with us to our family cabin this summer?!”

Nicole’s heart started racing at just the thought of going, but the excitement quickly passed and she shrugged at Wynonna, “You know that would be the shit, Wy, but you’ve asked Gus and Curtis if I could go in the past and they’ve never said yes. What makes you think they would be okay with it this time?”

“Um, that was when we were in high school, we’re like, grown-ups now. Adults. Responsible.” Wynonna declared very matter-of-factly.

Nicole gave Wynonna a look that signified that she definitely thought otherwise, “Sure, you’re super responsible…I just don’t want you to push anything on Gus and Curtis. It’s our first night back and I don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable by having to say no right to my face.”

“Maybe it will be better that you’re in the room, make ‘em real guilty!”

“Wynonna!” Nicole looked over at her best friend with pleading eyes.

Nicole definitely didn’t want to be a burden or intrude on their annual family vacation. She dropped her head back onto the headrest for a moment and couldn’t help but think about this summer. About how much better it would be if it were spent with Wynonna and the McCready’s at their lake cabin down in Hot Springs, AR, instead of here, in Jasper, IN with her parents who barely even talked to her because they were never here. She knew she would end up spending the summer working part time and spending her free time skateboarding around town, by herself.

Nicole pulled into the driveway at the McCready’s house and put her car in park. She gripped the steering wheel letting out a long breath, before looking to her right, “Wynonna, you know I would love to go with you this summer, but I really don’t want to be a burden on Gus and Curtis. I’m seriously starting to sweat just thinking about being put on the spot.” Nicole let her grip on the steering wheel go and shook her hands out to dry her palms, “If you really want to ask, please just wait until I leave so I don’t have to see Gus’s face when you ask. I mean, I love her, but she’s kinda scary.”

Wynonna ignored her, opening the passenger side door and jumping out. “Let’s go! You need to unlock the trunk and carry my shit inside.”

Nicole whipped her head around and narrowed her eyes at Wynonna, “I told you that you can unload your own bags from now on.”

“I will unload them, Red, but you can at least help me carry them! You owe me anyway!”

“Owe you for what?” Nicole sat in the driver's seat looking confused as ever.

“Oh, you’ll see.” Wynonna smirked mischievously.

Nicole rolled out of the car and as soon as she opened the trunk, Wynonna quickly grabbed her backpack and duffle bag out. She dropped them both to the ground and looked up at Nicole, “Unloaded!”

Nicole rolled her eyes and turned to shut the trunk. By the time she twisted back around, Wynonna had already grabbed her backpack, leaving her duffle bag for Nicole to carry up the steps and into the house, “You asshole!” Nicole shouted as the brunette continued to increase the distance between herself and the redhead.

Wynonna flipped Nicole off from the front porch and turned her head just enough that Nicole could see her wink over her shoulder. 

Nicole bent over and grabbed the duffle bag aggressively, before adjusting it on her right shoulder. She reluctantly started up the driveway, mumbling to herself as she made her way towards the front door.

-

Dinner had exceeded all of Nicole's expectations and as it was winding down, she looked around at everyone sitting at the table; Gus was taking a small sip of water and holding a hand over her chest after laughing hard at one of Curtis’s jokes, Curtis was looking fondly back at her while rubbing her left shoulder and whispering that he was glad he could still make her laugh after all these years, and of course Wynonna was busy scarfing down the last piece of the homemade peach pie that Gus had made for dessert. 

Nicole let out an inaudible sigh, relieved that her friend hadn’t brought up the cabin while they were eating. Although in the back of her mind, she hoped she might try to bring it up once she was gone, in case there was the slightest chance that she didn’t have to spend her summer in this town, without anyone really.

They had spent the last hour catching up with Gus and Curtis, interrupted by moments of Gus telling Wynonna to mind her manners.

As the small talk subsided, Nicole began to feel like she had overstayed her welcome so she cleared her throat and slid her chair back across the carpeted floor, “Well, I better get going! Thank you so much for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. McCready!”

Curtis chuckled and Gus shook her head before addressing Nicole, “Now, you know you can call us by our first names. We’ve known you since you were 14 years old and you spent every waking minute here when you weren’t at school.”

Nicole looked down at her lap, a hint of red spreading across her cheeks, “Of course, I’m sorry Mrs. Mc…Gus. Thank you for dinner; it was delicious.”

Wynonna burst out laughing and pie crumbs shot out of her mouth and onto the tablecloth, “Mrs. McGus!” She slapped Nicole on her back, while holding her fork between her fingers.

Gus rounded the table from cleaning up the plates and smacked Wynonna in the back of the head, “Do not spit on my tablecloth, young lady!”

Wynonna’s hand left Nicole’s back to grab the back of her own head, vigorously rubbing it. “Ouch! I couldn’t help it; it was funny...and you’re going to wash the tablecloth anyway.”

Wynonna looked across the table at Curtis, who had one elbow resting on the table with his hand hovering over his mouth. He moved his hand slightly and Wynonna saw a grin across his face. He met her eyes, nodding and mouthing, “It was funny.” Wynonna started chuckling again.

“I saw that.” Gus narrowed her eyes at Curtis.

Curtis immediately straightened up in his chair and cleared his throat as he pulled his napkin from his shirt. He looked up to meet Gus’s gaze, his grin completely filling his face, and Nicole watched as Gus’s eyes softened in response.

Nicole’s heart melted for a moment at the sight and she thought about how much love they have for each other. She looked over at Wynonna to see if she was reacting the same way, but she was scratching her under boob with one hand and licking her pointer finger on the other to pick up the crumbs from the tablecloth and eat them. Nicole’s expression faltered at the sight and she started to straighten her legs to stand. She got about halfway out of her chair when she felt resistance on her right shoulder. Looking over, she sees Wynonna’s hand firm on her bare shoulder. The one that she licked to get the crumbs…

Nicole scrunched her face at the thought and tried to stand again, but Wynonna held her hand there firm. She then takes another bite of her pie with the other; the boob scratching hand. She took a deep breath and looked up at Wynonna, who was still chewing her pie. Wynonna held up one finger on her shoulder to allow herself a moment to chew a little and swallow, but then proceeded to take another bite before she spoke anyway, “So…Nicole and I have something that we want to talk to you two about.”

Nicole’s look turned into a glare, “No, no not me! I believe Wynonna had something to talk to you two about, but I think it’s a family matter so I really should get going.” She shifted in her chair and Wynonna’s grip only tightened.

Nicole wondered for a moment how Wynonna had such good grip strength, but then immediately regretted her curiosity as her mind went where she never wanted it to. She made a grimacing face and continued to try to wiggle away from the thought.

“Out with it, girl.” Gus said sternly, leaning against the doorway while holding a handful of dishes.

Wynonna broke eye contact with Nicole and looked over at Gus. She took another bite of her pie before continuing, “Can Nicole come to the cabin with us this summer?”

Gus and Curtis looked at each other at the same time and there was a moment of silence. Curtis looked back at Wynonna, “I think that’s something that we should maybe discuss as a family, but I don’t see why-”

“Now hold on, Curtis and I would have to discuss this first.” Gus eyed Curtis for a few seconds before turning back to the girls, “Nicole, have you even talked to your parents about this?”

Nicole shifted uncomfortably in her seat again, “Um…well I’ve called them a few times now to let them know I was coming back to town today, but I couldn’t get a hold of them.”

Gus’s eyes went soft for a moment, a knowing look on her face, “Oh, well shoot.” She set the dishes back down on the table and put a hand on Nicole’s shoulder. Gus was completely aware of the situation with Nicole’s family. They worked every waking minute which left no time to spend with Nicole growing up. She basically lived at the McCready’s house after they moved to Jasper. They always tried to offer as much as they could, knowing that she didn’t have anyone to go home to otherwise.

Nicole’s cheeks warmed at the sentiment and she looked down at her lap again, “I can try calling my house again…leave them another message if they don’t answer. They’ve always told me not to bother them at work because they wouldn’t have time to talk anyway.”

A few seconds passed and Wynonna interrupted the silence, “Anyway, so Nicole would be stuck here in a house with no one to talk to and she wouldn’t even have me!”

Gus’s eyes left Nicole and she looked over at Wynonna, “Now you know we love Nicole, but it’s always been just family on these trips.”

Nicole sunk down lower in her chair, wishing she wasn’t in the middle of this conversation. She glanced at Wynonna out of the corner of her eye and saw her making a pouting face while looking back and forth between Gus and Curtis, “But we graduate from college next spring so this will be our last summer before we have to get real jobs and lose our summers off. Do you really want Nicole to spend the last summer of her youth stuck in this town without me? There's no doubt she will go a little crazy.”

“Hey now, you’re making me sound like a loser. I know other people…kinda.” Nicole put her right hand on the back of her neck and rubbed it awkwardly.

“Okay girls, give Curtis and I a moment to discuss this before we make a decision.” Gus looked over to Curtis and jerked her head a little, ushering him into the kitchen. 

They heard whispers coming from the kitchen for a few minutes and Nicole looked back over at Wynonna. Wynonna met her gaze and mouthed, “This is the most they’ve ever discussed it, so that’s good!” throwing a thumbs up at Nicole.

Nicole looked back down into her lap, fidgeting with her wristwatch and nervously biting her lip. A few more minutes passed before Gus and Curtis walked back into the dining room. Curtis sat back down at the table and looked over at Gus, “Take it away, Darlin’.” 

Gus looked over at Wynonna and Nicole as she slid her hands into her jean pockets, popping her right hip slightly, “Okay girls, we discussed it…Nicole, you can come with us as long as you follow a few rules.”

Nicole perked up almost immediately and Wynonna shouted, “Fuck yeah!” from beside her.

Gus glared at her and pointed her finger, “You watch your mouth when you are under my roof, young lady.”

Wynonna couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off her face though, even as she apologized, “Sorry, Gus. I just got excited!” She leaned her whole body to the side and started shaking Nicole’s shoulders, “This is going to be the best summer ever!” she screamed into Nicole’s ear.

Nicole couldn’t stop smiling either. She didn’t have much to compare her summers to, but anything has to be better than sitting in an empty house. “Thank you so much, Mrs...I mean Gus! Thank you so much Gus and Curtis!”

“You are very welcome, Nicole.” Curtis said smiling, “We always love spending time with you.”

Gus grabbed the dishes she was holding earlier, “Well, would the two of you like to know the rules you have to agree to before getting all excited about this?” She turned and disappeared into the kitchen for a moment before walking back in empty handed.

Nicole cleared her throat and tried to act serious, finding it very hard to wipe the smile off her face. “Yes, of course, please go ahead. What would the rules be?”

Gus leaned forward, placing both of her hands over the back of her chair at the table, “There are going to be 5 rules...” She looked directly at Nicole and lifted a finger with each rule she listed off.

  1. “Even though you haven’t been able to get a hold of your parents, we need to make sure they are aware of where you’ll be all summer. I will be calling them myself and if they don’t answer at home, I will be calling them at work. We can’t rely on an answering machine to relay your whereabouts.”



  1. “You would be responsible for bringing your own spending money. We would cook the meals but anything you want to buy otherwise, you need to pay for yourself.”



  1. “We have one spare room with a bed in it at the cabin. The room has only ever been used for storage and is full of boxes, so you will need to move those boxes up to the attic before you can sleep there.”



  1. “You will also need to help out with the chores and yard work throughout the summer. You can take turns with Wynonna and Waverly.”



Nicole’s breath caught in her throat and her ears immediately started to burn. Not because Gus was going to call her parents or because she had to do chores throughout the summer, but because she heard Waverly’s name.

She hadn’t seen Waverly since the day she and Wynonna graduated from high school. They had decided to leave for college early and spend the summer in Bloomington before starting classes in August. The following summer, when Nicole came home after her first year of college, Waverly had just graduated from high school and left to study abroad in Sydney. She just always seemed to miss Waverly when she would come back home to visit, which wasn’t often because she had no reason to. Waverly would always be studying abroad in some new location, as she had since moved to Singapore, and then to London. Nicole was completely lost in thought now; it’s been three years since she’s seen Waverly. She couldn’t possibly still have those feelings, right?

Then why couldn’t she breathe?

She heard a few snaps coming from her left, “Nicole, are you okay?” Gus asked with a slightly crooked head.

“Earth to Haught!” Wynonna shouted as she waved a hand in front of Nicole’s face.

Nicole shook her head back and forth slowly, pulling her mind back to the room and letting out a breath she had been holding the whole time. _Just breathe_.

“Did you hear anything I just said Nicole?” Gus asked with her hands on her hips.

“Yes, yes I did!” Nicole promised and proceeded to repeat back the first four rules to Gus and Curtis.

“Okay, good.” Gus looked satisfied with Nicole’s response, before her eyes moved to Wynonna. “The last rule is for you, Wynonna…even though you will have a friend there to keep you company, you cannot exclude your sister from everything. She needs to be included in your plans, if she wants to be.”

Wynonna slumped her shoulders at Gus’s rule, “Oh come on, you know that Waverly is 20 now, right? She is an adult and can do her own things. Also, I didn’t even know she was coming back this summer. She’s missed our summer vacation the last three years because of the travel thing.” Gus dropped her eyes into a glare and Wynonna threw her hands up in surrender. “Not that I’m not excited to see her! I have only seen her a few times since she left so I am looking forward to seeing her, just to clarify.”

Gus reached over the table to grab all of the glasses, “I know she’s 20, Wynonna. I just think that she would prefer to hang out with girls her own age instead of Curtis and myself the whole time.”

When Wynonna realized that the whole ‘Waverly is an adult now and can do her own thing’ wouldn’t work, she tried for the opposite. “Yeah, but Nicole and I are 21 and Waverly is only 20. She won’t even be able to drink-” Wynonna cut her own sentence short before looking up at the ceiling to avoid Gus’s eyes, “I mean, she has one year less life experience than us.”

Gus huffed and walked back into the kitchen for a moment before returning, “Stop making excuses, young lady. Those are the rules if you want Nicole to go. Period.”

Gus walked past them to the table again to continue cleaning, “Now, we leave first thing in the morning and have over 8 hours to drive.” She stopped in front of Nicole on her way back to the kitchen again, “If you want to drive your own car behind Curtis and me, you can just follow us there and that way you will have a way to get around without needing a ride all the time.”

Wynonna slid out of her chair and onto her knees, throwing her arms over her head in victory. “Yes! Freedom!” she squealed.

Gus rolled her eyes and looked between Nicole and Wynonna, “Waverly won’t be arriving right away. She has a few finals at the end of this week to finish up before she can fly back and meet us at the cabin. So it’ll just be you two, Curtis and myself for about a week.”

Wynonna pressed her pointer finger to her thumb, her hands still stretched high over her head. “Okie dokie.”

Nicole stood up from her chair slowly, “Gus, would you and Curtis mind if I just stayed here tonight? Everything is already packed and in my car.”

Gus smiled softly at her, “Yes, that’s fine dear. Bring your clothes inside so we can wash them before our trip.”

Nicole returned the smile. “I actually washed and folded them all at the dorm before I packed them-”

“I didn’t!” Wynonna shouted over Nicole, “Everything in my bag needs to be washed for sure! Like, for sure, for sure.”

“Of course you didn’t, Wynonna. How has Nicole not rubbed off on you over all these years?” Gus rolled her eyes again, “Grab your bag and let’s get everything washed.”

Nicole wondered to herself how many times a day Gus would roll her eyes at Wynonna when they’re together. She couldn’t even count the number of times from this dinner alone; Gus must get headaches.

Curtis and Wynonna stood and left the room to start the laundry.

“I’m going to give your folks a quick call sweetie.” Gus said as she walked into the living room and picked up the cordless phone. A minute passed and Nicole heard a button on the phone beep, which must have been Gus ending the call. “Damn, no answer at the house.” Gus said quietly to herself. She walked into the kitchen and opened the phone book to find the work phone number for Nicole’s dad. She finally clicked the ‘call’ button again and dialed the number.

Nicole walked over near the kitchen and leaned against the wall, trying to listen in on a little bit of the conversation without being seen.

“Yes, hello, is David Haught available?…No, I won’t leave him a message. This is about his daughter; put him on the phone.”

Nicole sunk lower on the wall and into a sitting position, pulling her knees to her chest tightly. She knew that if he didn’t come to the phone for Gus to talk to directly, she wouldn’t be able to go with them, as per rule #1.

Gus let out a staggered breath, “Yes, he has a daughter. Put him on the phone right now.”

Nicole could swear she actually felt her heart split in two. Her father had worked at the same company since they moved to Jasper…seven years…and the people that he spent most of his time with didn’t even know she existed. She felt a pressure in her throat at the thought and her vision started to blur, before she opened her eyes wide to look at the ceiling, trying to dry them with air and use gravity to keep the tears in.

About a minute of silence passed before Gus cleared her throat, “Hello, David? This is Gus McCready, Wynonna’s aunt. I am calling about Nicole. I just wanted to let you know that she will be joining us this summer at our cabin in Hot Springs, Arkansas…”

Nicole stopped listening after that, letting out a heavy breath as relief washed over her, knowing she could spend her summer with her best friend. On a lake. With boats. And girls in bikinis. And oh shit, Waverly. _Waverly in a bikini_.

Wynonna whipped her head around the corner and looked down at Nicole sitting against the wall, “Did Gus get a hold of your parents?!”

“Yeah, my dad,” Nicole said with an empty smile, trying to hide the fact that she has just gotten emotional over her parents. She didn’t even know why she let it bother her anymore; she was used to them not caring, but it still hurt. Every time they didn’t show up for her, it always hurt.

Wynonna slammed her hand against the wall of the dining room, “Sweet! Curtis just got a load of my laundry going, so let’s go upstairs and listen to some music on my new stereo system! I got it for Christmas; it’s a Sharp CD-C406!

Nicole’s forced smile suddenly turned into a wide grin, “No way! Doesn’t that have a 3-CD drawer changer?!”

“Um, yeah!” Wynonna said giddily with wide eyes. She turned on her heels and started running towards the stairs with Nicole jumping up to follow, taking two steps at a time.

-

They listened to music for a few hours and Wynonna talked about all the things they were going to do over the summer, “I’m totally going to hook up with some dudes and you’re gonna get some babes! We’ll be each other’s wingwoman!” Wynonna went on and on about the hotties with the bodies at the beach, while Nicole just nodded along to her plans until eventually Wynonna was sprawled out on the bed snoring. She had one leg intertwined with Nicole’s and her right forearm laid across her collarbone.

Nicole didn’t bother moving Wynonna, her mind was somewhere else anyway and she wouldn’t be able to sleep even if she was more comfortable. Instead, she sighed to herself and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the only thing she’s been able to think about all night: Waverly Earp.

Nicole laid there with her mind drifting back to freshman year of high school, when she first moved to Jasper.

_Wynonna had taken her “under her wing”, or at least that’s how Wynonna referred to it. Waverly was in 8th grade at the time and she always wanted to hang out with Wynonna and Nicole, which Nicole didn’t mind at all. She would always talk Wynonna into letting Waverly stay because she really did love spending time with Waverly, even though she never stopped talking. She could listen to Waverly talk for hours and not get annoyed like Wynonna would after a few minutes._

_Nicole knew that Waverly was the prettiest girl she had ever laid eyes on and that she always looked forward to spending time with her. But she was Wynonna’s little sister, so nothing could be done about it anyway. Wynonna would ask Nicole which girls she was crushing on, always while Waverly was hanging out with them. Of course. Nicole’s cheeks would burn before she would shake her head and tell them “no one specific” every time._

_A year had passed since her family moved to town and it was the first day of her sophomore year. This was a day Nicole would never forget; the day Waverly started high school. The day that no matter how hard she had tried for the past year to stop them, her feelings still came bubbling to the surface from where she kept them buried so deep. The day she couldn’t deny to herself any longer that she definitely had a crush on Waverly Earp._

_Nicole had just arrived at the high school and was putting a book into her locker with one hand and eating her breakfast with the other. She felt a gust of wind on the back of her neck from the front door of the high school swinging open to her right. She looked up and turned her head just before she choked on her vanilla dipped donut. Waverly was walking through the door of the school in her new cheerleading uniform, hair hanging in loose waves over her shoulders. Nicole’s eyes traveled from Waverly’s hair, past the exposed skin of her stomach, all the way down to her ankles._ _A sight like that left Nicole silently thanking god_ _that Waverly had decided to try out for cheerleading this summer. She took a deep breath before letting her eyes ride slowly back up. So god damn slowly. Taking in every flex and curve of her body in the process. She licked her lips just before she locked eyes with Waverly. Shit. How long had Waverly been watching her undress her with her eyes? Fuck. Waverly blushed slightly and shot Nicole a smile and wave as she walked by with her friends. Nicole just stood there frozen, mouth slightly agape and donut still hanging in her left hand. She curved the corners of her lips for a moment and shot Waverly a quick dimpled smile. Waverly pursed her lips together before breaking eye contact, looking down at the floor quickly. Waverly turned the corner at the end of the hallway and Nicole let out a deep breath realizing she hadn’t blinked the whole time. She smacked her palm to her forehead with her non-donut hand as soon as Waverly was out of sight, “Idiot! You didn’t blink!” she cursed herself quietly._

_She couldn’t stop thinking about Waverly that day, not for a second. The best idea ever had popped into her head and later that day Nicole decided to join the basketball team. The basketball coach, Mr. Carlos, had been begging Nicole to join the team ever since she went through a growth spurt freshman year and shot up like a beanpole._

_Nicole was never really into sports, she always preferred spending her free time listening to music and skateboarding._

_But on the first day of sophomore year, she walked through the gymnasium where the cheerleaders were practicing and marched into Coach Carlos’ office, which overlooked the gymnasium. Nicole tapped him on the shoulder and before he could turn around in his office chair she blurted out, “I want to be part of the team.” He looked over his shoulder with a grin from ear to ear before he turned his chair and set his clipboard on his lap, the grin fading into a confused look on his face. “I thought you told me basketball isn't your thing, Haught…” he said rubbing a hand over his scruff._

_Nicole took a deep breath and looked out the glass window of his office and into the gym for a moment, locking eyes with Waverly. She was smiling at Nicole from the top of the pyramid before she bounced a few times and jumped in the air, doing the splits. Nicole slowly turned back to the man in front of her with wide eyes and a dry mouth, choking out, “Coach, it’s everybody’s thing…”_

-

Nicole woke up the next morning with three hours of sleep and Wynonna’s hair in her mouth. She dropped her whole palm to the side of Wynonna’s face, pushing her away and picking at the hair on her tongue with the other hand, “Uh! Thank god we don’t have to share a bed at this cabin! I feel like we’re in high school all over again.” Nicole propped herself up on her elbows and picked the remaining hairs from her mouth, wiping them on Wynonna.

Wynonna yawned and spoke lazily, “Why? I slept great!” She stretched out, throwing her limbs across Nicole again.

Nicole shimmied out from under Wynonna’s leg and arm and slid her legs to the floor, “We should probably get going pretty soon, before-”

“Girls! Get your butts down here and let’s get the show on the road!” Gus shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

Wynonna groaned and pulled the sheets over her head, “No, too tired…”

Nicole stood tall and walked to the end of the bed, pulling the sheets and blanket off Wynonna. “You just told me that you slept great.”

Wynonna immediately curled up into a ball and shot a glare at Nicole, “That doesn’t mean I couldn’t sleep some more, dickhead.”

Nicole stuck her tongue out at Wynonna and walked over to the door to slip her shoes on. She turned around and looked at her reflection in the dresser mirror, trying to decide if she was going to wear her hat or leave her head bare. She ended up going with the cap, just like she did every day. She reached over to the dresser and grabbed her black Nike baseball cap, sliding it on backwards over her red flyaways, pinning them down for the most part.

Nicole felt a force hit her in the face and before she even had a moment to wince, she looked down to see a pillow at her feet. She raised her gaze to Wynonna, still balled up in bed but now with a shit eating grin on her face, “Ha! That’s for pulling my blankets off, shithead.”

Nicole eyed Wynonna and rubbed her cheek, trying to make it look like it hurt worse than a soft pillow hitting her face. Wynonna rolled her eyes and sprawled back out on the bed, “Are you ever going to get a new hat? That one is so old and the bill is all frayed.”

Nicole changed her expression of fake pain to insult immediately, “This is my lucky hat, Wynonna, you know that!”

Nicole turned around and opened the bedroom door before looking back at Wynonna one more time, “Now let’s go!” She slammed the door behind her and ran down the stairs to help Gus and Curtis load their truck. She grinned from ear to ear while thinking about the whole summer ahead of her, getting out of this damn town, before a twist in her stomach caused her smile to falter slightly and her heart to ache. Waverly. She was going to see Waverly. Her mind started to go back to her last night in town, the night of her high school graduation and everything that had happened, but she was knocked back to the present when Curtis rested a hand on her shoulder with a big toothy grin, “You ready?”

Nicole pushed all of her memories and emotions back down for another time, focusing on this moment, here and now. She smiled back genuinely, “I’m ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Please let me know what you all think! You can leave a comment here or find me on Twitter @ifeelcollege
> 
> Feel free to listen to the songs that I mention in the scenes they are mentioned, to get the full experience. I was listening to them while I wrote the scenes.


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